Page 131 of The Enforcer

I grinned as I thought about the plans I had. “Don’t worry. She will never have another chance to get rid of me. Not one.”

“She insisted, boss,” Luca said as the plane touched down.

“What do you mean she insisted?” What the fuck was Valencia doing and why had one of my most trusted soldiers allowed her to leave my parents’ house?

“She wanted to surprise you. I didn’t think it was any big deal since your home is also well guarded.”

“Where are you?” I bristled, feeling the weight of everything that had occurred like a boulder slammed against my chest.

“I’m right outside. She’s safe. I swept the house and grounds. She asked me to let you know when you landed.”

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

The woman could be very convincing when she wanted to be. “Keep an eye on her. Check the communications and for God’s sake, shoot to kill.”

“Are you expecting anything, boss?” Luca asked, his tone holding surprise while mine held anger.

“I don’t like the way everything has gone down.”

While Don Coppola had already indicated their sweep of the city had started, there were a half dozen outliers who would sequester themselves into hiding until they were able to form a plan of attack. Let alone what the fucking Armenian Power would do. Cockroaches.

“What the hell is going on?” Havros hissed from beside me.

I’d already removed my seatbelt even as the jet was dropped hard onto the surface. While the landing was jarring, I didn’t give a shit about my safety.

Not when hers could be compromised. I gave my brother a look, trying to recalculate how I wanted to handle things.

There was nothing like the feeling of stepping on my home soil. However, the bad feeling remained and I was almost never wrong.

“I’m right here. Nothing is going to occur. How far away are you?”

“Thirty minutes.” It would be thirty of the longest minutes in my fucking life. “Call me if you notice one goddamn thing. Then call for additional soldiers.”

“Yes, boss.”

I almost tossed the phone, already standing in wait of the door opening.

“Calm down. What is it?”

I looked from Havros to Elias. “Valencia decided to return to my house to surprise me.”

“Shit,” Elias said. “Luca is a good man.”

“So you keep telling me. He makes piss poor decisions.” If the door wasn’t opened soon, I was going to use the emergency latch.

The plane finally rolled to a stop and as soon as it did, I breached protocol, grabbing the latch. While the grounds crew was damn good, immediately bringing the stairs to the plane, I jumped down them just as they were being rolled into position.

Havros managed to flank my side, already texting Kara. He was as anxious as I was. The whole idea of keeping everyone together until the plan was unfolded was to ensure their safety and not to split the forces.

Yes, we employed dozens of soldiers, but depending on the size of the attack, it might not be enough.

We all took long strides toward the waiting SUV, Elias not bothering to open our doors, instead jumping into the driver’s seat.

Both Havros and I climbed in and my bad feeling was turning to rage and terror. Not for myself, but for the woman I’d promised I’d protect.

“Call her,” Havros suggested as Elias gunned the engine.

“That’s what I’m doing, bro.” I dialed and immediately the goddamn call went to voicemail.

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